An Island Of Our Own
by ObnoxiousSpontaneousCombustion
Summary: What if Beckendorf didn't die? What if he got blasted off to the immaterial island of Ogygia? What if Calypso found him completely irresistible? Would he stay with her, or go back to fight with his friends and girlfriend? 1st ever Beckendorf/Calypso fic on this site!
1. The One With The Hospital With Gems

_**A/N: Yay! This is the first Beckendorf/Calypso fanfic ever in the history of the world! (Or maybe just on here… but come on, don't burst my bubble.) This would come right after the Princess Andromeda blows up and Beckendorf is supposed to die… only in my story, he doesn't. Ha, Kronos! Take that! Anyway, I hope you enjoy my fanfic, and please review. I'm always interested to hear praise and/or constructive criticism. Peace out, people. - SK**_

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><p>I woke up for about ten seconds. This was just long enough to see that I was in a spotless clean white bed. Then I went back to sleep and had confusing dreams about dog-like monsters, a ship, some freaky gold-eyed dude and a big explosion that I think was my fault but I'm not sure.<p>

Well, most explosions are my fault.

I woke up again some time afterwards – it could have been fifteen minutes, it could have been three days – and managed to stay conscious for long enough to actually take stock of my surroundings. Once I was able to focus, I saw I was in a cave with precious gems sticking out of the ceiling – rubies, diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, amethysts and some other serious rocks that kept changing color. My bed was the same as it had been – when, yesterday? – perfectly clean and spotless, the kind of white you only see in hospitals.

That's it. Hospitals. I was in a hospital. That didn't explain the billions of dollars worth of geology that stuck to the ceiling or the fact that I seemed to be their only patient, but that could always be a hallucination. I was, after all, in a hospital, so that clearly meant wasn't in the pink of health.

I tried to sit up, but felt dizzy just holding my head up. And so, naturally, I went back to sleep, only to wake up in cold sweat a little while later. Well. Sleeping wasn't an option, so I guess trying to figure out how in Hades I had gotten here was second on my mental to-do list.

I remember going on a mission with Percy. I remember the Princess Andromeda. I remember putting the explosives in place. I remember getting caught. I remember Percy fighting with Luke, who's actually Kronos in Luke's body. I remember pressing the detonate button on my watch and seeing Percy jump off just before everything exploded. I remember… dying. So how was I still breathing?

I propped myself up on my elbows with some difficulty, and was about to pull the covers back from the bottom half of my body when an invisible hand slapped me away. I did a double take. _Invisible hand?_ I tried to swat who- or whatever it was away, but it obviously saw me a lot better than I saw it because it avoided me easily and flicked my wrist. Annoyed, I punched the air in its general direction, but missed and received a pinch on shoulder. I retaliated with a slap, but didn't feel anything material so assumed I had missed, and compensated for my epic fail with a raspberry.

Satisfied and feeling very mature, I was about to try pulling the covers back again when I heard footsteps. I instinctively dropped everything and pretended to be asleep, just in case this was an enemy. Worst case scenario, they attack me while I'm sleeping, I spring up and kick their butt.

"I know you're awake," said a female voice, laughing slightly. I opened one eye, just to see whom I was dealing with, then opened the other so I could see the girl better. One word: wow.

Calypso and I talked for a while. She explained to me exactly what happened to me, and warned me not to look at my legs for the time being.

As it turns out, the force of the explosion was enough to catapult me here, onto the immaterial island of Ogygia. I asked her how in Hades this was possible, but she just shrugged and said it must be magic. Generally I get really exasperated when people are too lazy to think about things and just say that it must be magic, because even though Greek gods exist, that doesn't mean there are suddenly pink fluffy rainbows with leprechauns dancing on them.

But I don't know this girl well enough to be exasperated with her yet. Besides, she explained my entire situation to me, and she's also in a better position than I am at the moment, so again, being exasperated with her is not an option.

"So let me get this straight," I said once she's finished talking, "Everybody thinks I'm dead?" Calypso nodded, and looked at me sympathetically with her beautiful hazel eyes. She really _was_ pretty; her hair had most likely originally been brown had been bleached gold by the sun, and framed her tan face perfectly without looking like it had even been brushed. I knew I had a girlfriend, and a wonderful one at that, but I wasn't _dead_. (Well, not technically.) Besides, I planned on seeing Silena really soon, assuming of course one can get off immaterial islands.

"Can I leave?" I asked. Right after I said that, though, I winced inwardly. That had come out a lot ruder than I'd intended. I sounded very unappreciative of her attention. Sometimes I really hate being so awkward around girls… people in general, actually. Living organisms. But she didn't seem offended. Instead she looked mildly embarrassed.

"Of course," she answered, tactfully turning to look the other way.

I knew she was lying. Even a fool could tell from her eyes and her body language. But I _had_ to be able to leave. I wasn't going to stay here for the rest of my life! I needed to see Silena, and I needed to go back and fight the Titans. In that order. Don't call me a coward: I _died_ for my cause; I just didn't want to have to do it again.

I looked over at Calypso, only to see that she was blushing. Her cheeks had turned a delicate shade of crimson, and she was staring into space as if sadly reminiscing about something… or someone?

I let my head fall back onto the pillow, slowly processing the fact that I was most likely stuck here for all eternity.

"I'll leave you alone," she said quietly, getting up from her chair next to my bed and walking away.

"Wait!" I called, sitting bolt upright and feeling a sharp pain in my lower back as I did so. Calypso turned around to face me, her perfect eyebrows raised. "Thank you." The girl just smiled shyly and walked out of the room, leaving me alone with bittersweet thoughts of my girlfriend back at camp.


	2. The One With The Truth About Percy

I really missed Silena. This was probably the longest we'd been apart since I'd met her – I wasn't sure how long it had been, exactly, but it felt like ages. I also missed my brothers, sisters and friends, but mostly I really missed my girlfriend, and it killed me a little that she thought I was dead. Was she crying? Had she cried? Had she moved on to someone better? Obviously I wanted her to be happy, but the thought of her with someone else…

I heard footsteps, and saw Calypso walking over to me with a tray of food. I felt mildly guilty that she kept bringing me food in bed, but not guilty enough not to eat it. Who can you turn down a succulent steak, the creamiest, most buttery mashed potatoes ever, with a delicious slice of cheesecake – and I don't even _like_ cheesecake – for dessert?

While I was wolfing down my meal, Calypso took a seat next to my bed and watched me. It was kind of unnerving, having someone – and not just anyone, a really pretty girl who looked about your age only you're not sure – watch you while you're eating. Did she expect me to make conversation? Surely not, or else she wouldn't have given me all this delicious food that you can't possibly wait to eat.

So I ate.

Once I swallowed the last bite of cheesecake, I steeled myself and asked,

"So, uh, do you, erm, get a lot of visitors here?"

"No," she said sadly, "Not many."

"Oh… am I the first?"

Calypso laughed lightly. "No, no. You're not quite the first." I felt disappointed somehow. The fact that there'd been others made me… well, less special. "I had a young man by the name of Percy a while ago," she continued. My ears did a double take.

"Wait… Percy Jackson?" _No way,_ I thought.

So that's where our dear son of Poseidon was that whole time. He didn't lie; he _had_ been on an island… just not exactly your average desert island in the middle of the Pacific.

"You know him?"

"He's… a friend of mine." I wasn't quite sure what to call Percy. He wasn't quite my best friend, but we'd been in a handful of near-death situations together, so I couldn't just stick him in there next to Clarisse. All of this social stuff is way too complicated; it would be so much easier if it were obvious what people were, like a setting, or a nametag, like, _"Hello, my name is Percy. I am your good friend."_

"I was going to say, you two would have gotten along." I smiled weekly as an invisible servant lifted my tray into the air, over Calyso's head.

We sat in silence for a while before she asked,

"How is Percy?"

"He was fine, last I saw him. Swimming to shore." Calypso nodded absently and stared into space. It was clear Percy had meant a lot to her. Shaking herself, she turned back to me and smiled sheepishly. Not everyone could pull off that smile, but Calypso isn't everyone.

I was just wondering why she was sheepish when it hit me: Calypso had loved Percy, and maybe still did. It was really sad for her, obviously, but I couldn't help but laugh. The idea of a beautiful goddess like the one right across from me falling in love with a demigod – no matter how powerful – was preposterous.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"No, it's just…" I said in an extreme effort to compose myself, "Percy!" This pitiful sentence resulted in more unintentional laughter on my part. Calypso raised an eyebrow, then started cracking up herself.

It really wasn't funny. But I hadn't laughed in ages, and for a second there when I hit my stopwatch I thought I never would again.

So we laughed.


	3. The One With My Legs

I hadn't even realized that I'd fallen asleep, but since you can't wake up without falling asleep, I suppose I had. I blinked to be able to see clearly, and propped myself up on my elbows. Nobody else was in my room (that I could see), so, very carefully and slowly, I lifted the white sheet away from the lower half of my body. And let me tell you, saying I was surprised would the understatement of the century.

The perfectly white hospital shorts that I was wearing only came down to the top of my knees, revealing two badly singed, scraped up and tender-looking kneecaps. Below that, my shins and calves were pink in places and bloody in others. My ankle had all sorts of cuts on them and a bad scorch mark decorated my left heel. To my horror, I noticed that fourth toe on my right foot was noticeable shorter than it had been – but was covered in a bloodstained bandage so I couldn't inspect the damage. I didn't even want to see what my thighs looked like.

As far as I could tell, my arms looked normal, except for a few faint burns that you couldn't really see on my dark skin. Therefore, Calypso had started healing my arms first. Ergo, I'd been here a lot longer than I thought.

As I was staring blankly past my hands at my legs, I heard somebody come in. Without looking up, I knew it was Calypso, because I'd unwittingly learned to recognize her gait. She stifled a gasp when she saw the look on my face.

"I'm so sorry, Charles." I felt my eyes start to sting a little. Not because half of me was completely mangled. Not because I'd made my frankly very beautiful hostess upset. But because Silena was the only person who would ever call me by my first name.

"It's O.K.," I reassured her, awkwardly pulling the cover back over myself, "It's not your fault. In fact, thanks for, um, saving at least my top half." I winced at my choice of words, but she seemed to understand that I was grateful, and pulled up a chair next to me.

"Here," she said, handing me a photo. It was the picture of Silena that I had with me before the explosion. It was in perfect shape, not even a little bit tattered or torn. I smiled despite myself.

"She… she was your girlfriend, wasn't she?"

"Is."

"Of course, sorry," Calypso apologized, clearly embarrassed.

Silence.

"Do you think I could stand up?" I asked her suddenly.

"Yes, I think so."

So I carefully slid out of my bed and carefully tried putting weight on my feet. Then I tried walking. Then I tried walking further. And further than that. Eventually, I tried running. Then I tried running faster.

"Don't overexert…" began my hostess, but I was already out the door.

This was by far the most beautiful immaterial island I'd ever seen. The sky was, well, sky blue, with the occasional fluffy cumulus cloud floating around. The sun was noticeably smaller and more golden than it should be, and you could see its rays hitting the perfectly kept green grass and shining through the trees. It was clear Calypso was a gardener. There were plants everywhere; roses of all colors, several tulips, big hedges trimmed to look like various mythological creatures (including a couple of gods), a handful of petunias, brightly colored hydrangeas and a lot of other ones I didn't recognize but I'm sure the Demeter kids would.

"Wow."

"You like it?" Calypso asked. She seemed to have simply appeared next to me. I looked over at her, and her face seemed to glow ten times brighter in the sun. Her hazel eyes shone, and her hair looked glossier than life. And yet… she looked natural. I could tell she didn't wear any makeup (Silena had given me extensive lessons on how to tell whether or not a girl – or guy – was wearing makeup), and as far as I could tell, she didn't try to be pretty at all. She just… was. _This is probably what Aphrodite looks like,_ I thought.

"Yeah," I said, not taking my eyes off her. She smiled while gazing off into the trees.

"You're not even looking at it."

"No, I'm not," I agreed. _Shut up, Beckendorf,_ I told myself,_ Shut up shut up shut up. _

She looked up at me with a scared look on her face, as if I'd suddenly grown another head.

"What?" I asked, getting really worried.

And that's when Calypso kissed me.


	4. The One With Hermes

_**A/N: Isn't Calypso terrible? How dare she kiss him when she knew he had a girlfriend! By the way, thank you so much for taking the time to read this fanfic. It means a lot to me. You rock. That's all. - SK**_

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><p>I promise you I'm not stupid, but it took me a good while to compute what exactly had happened. Calypso had kissed me without warning. I'd been surprised, but had enjoyed it, despite the fact that I have a girlfriend whom I really care about. Then I'd pulled away after a couple of seconds, and she'd disappeared into thin air… almost as if it'd never happened.<p>

I felt awful. I'd made a goddess fall for me, gods know how, and then I'd kissed her, simultaneously getting her hopes up and cheating on my girlfriend.

And OK, technically, _she_ kissed _me_. But that doesn't stop me from being at least partially guilty, because after all, I did kiss her back. I did. Would it have been so hard for me to pull away? Or simply not move my lips? I guess so. I'm sickened with myself.

I realize that Silena is currently under the impression that I'm dead, and that she's most likely moved on by now, no doubt to someone better for her, but she's still my girlfriend and I cheated on her.

I just… can't believe I did that.

Suddenly, I felt a comforting hand on my shoulder. Expecting to see Calypso, I was surprised to find that I was being comforted instead by one of her invisible servants. I smiled gratefully at it, and let myself be guided invisibly back to my room. My bed was all made up, and my pillow was all fluffed up and oh so inviting… I realized that I was really tired; the effort of running had completely exhausted me. I wasn't in shape at all.

I collapsed onto my bed face first and immediately fell asleep.

"He has to stay here until he's healed," said a man a little while later, once I'd woken up. My mind snapped awake, but I didn't open my eyes. His voice sounded familiar. "Now I'm not sure why you want him to leave so badly, but whatever your reasons, they're not good enough. He's completely burnt, for Zeus' sake!"

"Yes, Lord Hermes," murmured Calypso.

"It's O.K. Actually, you're doing a great job healing him, and you're being very patient. I know_ I'd_ get tired of taking care of a sick kid for a week. But unfortunately this is your job, just like mine…" His cell phone rang as if on cue and he picked it up at the speed of light, like a cowboy grabs a gun from his holster. "Yes? Oh, hello. Why…? Of course you can come. Yes, I'm sure that's fine. Bye." I heard a beep, probably Hermes hanging up. "By the way, my brother's coming in a couple hours."

"Which one?" the Titaness asked. Hermes laughed.

"Yes, I do have many… This time it's Apollo. Aw, look, you're blushing!"

"No, I'm…"

"It's quite alright," the messenger god chuckled, "He has that effect on girls. Anyway, I'll be off. Bye, Calypso!"

"Bye, Lord Hermes." I felt a sudden blast of heat, and was thankful that I had my eyes closed. Calypso sighed. It wasn't a sigh of exasperation, but one of defeat. I felt a sudden pang of pity for her. She was stuck on this island with nobody to talk to but the occasional visiting god or poor mangled hero. I was also relieved; I hadn't been here for very long, only a week.

Calypso sat down in the chair next to my bed. I didn't dare open my eyes in case she disappeared again, so I went on pretending I was asleep, breathing deeply. I felt her fingers on my cheek, sliding down to caress my chin. I relaxed despite myself. As she pulled away, I felt a drop on my neck. She was crying. I wanted to open my eyes, comfort her, tell her not to cry. But since I wasn't quite sure how to put that into words without sounding cringe-worthy bad, I kept on breathing deeply and pretending to be asleep. It was easier and less embarrassing for both of us.


	5. The One Where I'm Becks

Once Calypso had left, I just lay there, staring at the ceiling of the cave. I thought of all the money I could make by selling the precious stones that were incrusted in the rock above me. Then I thought of what I'd buy with that money. An orange Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4, more gadgets for my bed back at camp… and that bag Silena wanted, whatever it's called. I could've sworn it was called a Burkha, but that wouldn't make any sense…

_I miss Silena, _I thought, _Does she miss me? Did she cry when they told her I was gone?_ I hoped not. Obviously I wanted her to care, at least a little, but I didn't want her to cry. I winced at the thought of being the reason she was upset, even though it wasn't entirely my fault.

I heard footsteps resounding in the cave, and painfully sat up so I could see who was coming. Seconds later, I saw Calypso and a boy about my age, seventeen or eighteen, walk around the bend. She blanched slightly when she saw I was awake, but other than that acted perfectly normal.

"Charles! You're awake. This is Apollo, have you met him?" I shook my head. I'd only seen him on a field trip to Olympus a year ago, but other than that…

"Of course he has!" Apollo exclaimed, giving me an unintentionally painful slap on the back.

"Great," said Calypso with a forced smile, "Then I don't have to make introductions. I'll leave you two to talk." And then she disappeared into thin air, much like she'd done a few hours ago.

"So, Becks – mind if I call you Becks?" asked the sun god.

"Uh… sure."

"I have a question for you."

"Shoot."

"Would you be interested in leaving here and returning to camp?" _Of course_, I answered in my head. But I didn't say anything. I noticed how he'd said, "leaving here". He must know that I didn't want to leave Calypso. Not that I loved her or anything. But I felt really bad for her. Heroes come, heroes go, she falls in love with them, and they break her heart. And that split second I saw fear in her eyes before she kissed me… that was the fear of losing yet another one, and going through yet another heartbreak.

"Want to think about it for a minute?" I shook my head. Apollo grinned. "No need to tell me. I know all… see all…" I nodded at him, made a pitiful attempt to bow, and he just winked at me and swaggered out. I took a deep breath and followed him to the garden.

Calypso was tending her garden. She was crouched down, covering up a new shrub with dirt, absentmindedly letting the soil sift through her nimble fingers. I could tell she knew I was here, but wasn't looking at me deliberately.

"Can I help?" I asked. Without looking up, she nodded. Feeling even more awkward than I usually do, I sat down next to her.

"What can I do?" She didn't answer for a few seconds, then whispered,

"You could stay here." She sniffled, and let tears form in her beautiful hazel eyes, spilling over and silently cascading down her cheeks, dripping off her chin onto her new plant. "But you're not going to, are you?"

"I… no. No, I'm not." The words burned as they came out, but I had to say them. She nodded sadly, and then turned to face me, grim defeat plain in her features.

"I understand. It's… it's the right thing to do. You need to see your friends. And… and her." We both knew who "her" was. "I'm so sorry, Charles." Calypso gently leaned her head on my shoulder, and I could feel every single one of her quiet sobs shaking her. Almost automatically, I reached out to stroke her hair, like I always did with Silena when she was upset.

"It's O.K.," I reassured her, "Nothing to be sorry about." She steadied her breathing and continued,

"You're different from the others, Charles. You… you didn't lead me on, you didn't even entertain the idea of staying here. But you seemed to genuinely care about me, and I thought… I thought..." Another couple sobs racked her body, choking her.

"I do care."

"That's the problem," she whispered. "You, more than anyone else… I couldn't bear to see you go."

_You, more than anyone else… You, more than anyone else… You, more than anyone else… You, more than anyone else… You, more than anyone else… You, more than anyone else… You, more than anyone else… You, more than anyone else… You, more than anyone else…_ Those words would've made any other guy feel really good about himself, but when I heard them, I just felt awful. I felt like the worst person in the world, because I broke Calypso's heart more than anyone else…

"You ready?" asked Apollo. I turned around, and saw him standing in front of a bright orange Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4. _My_ car. It was even more beautiful than in pictures.

"Uh…" I tore my gaze away from the sun chariot, glanced at the girl next to me and nodded. Just as I was about to get up, though, she put a hand on my shoulder. Before I had time to react, she closed her eyes and kissed me again, this time more softly, as if she always wanted to remember what my lips felt like.

I wouldn't even be lying if I told you that I didn't feel anything. Obviously it's nice to be kissed by a really beautiful immortal goddess, but I didn't feel a spark. All I could think of was Silena, and the fact that I'd be seeing – and possible kissing – her soon. Calypso pulled away. I felt guilty and relieved that I hadn't felt anything in that kiss, and I think she could tell.

"Go, brave one."

"I'll come and visit you," I promised. She shook her head.

"No one returns to Ogygia. Just go." I wanted to say something, but Apollo interrupted me.

"Come on, Beckyboy," he said kindly, "Let's go."

So I climbed into the passenger seat of the neon orange car and buckled up. Apollo slid in next to me and turned the key in the ignition, making the engine roar to life.

"Sorry for interrupting," he said, "But I had a feeling what you were about to say was extremely stupid." I nodded gratefully.

"Yeah."

"By the way, do you want to drive?"

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><p><em><strong>AN: Wipe away those tears, because this isn't it. There will be one last chapter where he arrives at camp, two weeks after the explosion. And believe me, he'll raise some eyebrows because not only is he alive, but riding in Apollo's Lamborghini. And in case you're wondering, the bag that Silena wants is the Hermès Birkin bag, named after Jane Birkin. Honestly, I don't get the obsession with it, but she's a daughter of Aphrodite, of course she wants one. - SK**_


	6. The One Where I Fly A Lamborghini

_**A/N: And finally the update. I'm sorry it took so long. But after years and years of teachers promising that this school year would be hard, it finally happened. It's barely even October and I have a ton of homework. Anyway, there's one last chapter after this. Forget what I said in chapter 6. And as always, I'll try to update again quickly, but you know that isn't going to happen. But I'll try.**_

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><p>If you're ever feeling down, take a ride in a flying Lamborghini. It was the coolest thing ever. Not only was I driving the sweetest racecar ever invented by mankind, but I was also driving it across the sky and going far above the national speed limit, thanks to the two turbo solar-powered rockets in the back. I felt like I could do anything while driving this chariot, and it was one of the best sensations in the world. The best was having Silena smile at you. And I strongly recommend you try both, if possible.<p>

"So, Beckster, how do she run?" asked Apollo. I grinned at him.

"Awesome."

"This is your favorite car, right?" Seeing the surprised expression on my face, he smirked and explained, "I know all… see all… woah there, watch out for the plane!" I veered sharply off course, avoiding a huge American Airlines 747. I wondered what the passengers saw, because I seriously doubted that they saw the sun turning to avoid hitting them.

"That was close."

"You're doing fine. Just fly a little higher up, we wouldn't want you burning up an entire city, now, would we?" I glanced out the window. We were already flying over Albany, probably making all the residents want to die from the heat (but, fortunately, not actually killing them). I turned the steering wheel slightly to the right, as per the GPS' directions, slowly but surely approaching my destination.

It was going to be so weird seeing everybody again, especially since, to the best of their knowledge, I was dead. But once everybody got over the awkwardness of that, it'd be fine. After all, we'd given up Percy for dead when he'd been in Ogygia. But I have to say, Annabeth was less than cool about it. She practically wrote him a love letter when we were burning his pyre, but nearly killed him when he showed up, alive and well, a few minutes later.

How would Silena react? I'm sure she'd be happy to see me. That is, if she doesn't already have another boyfriend. I've only been dead for a few weeks, it's true, but this _is_ Silena Beauregard. I'm sure a guy has already asked her out at least twice by now, appropriate mourning period for her deceased boyfriend be damned.

"OK, start going down," said Apollo, jarring me from my thoughts. Seconds ago we'd been above Albany, and now I saw Camp Half-Blood just below us. I'd either been lost in thought for quite some time or this car had serious speed. I maneuvered the sun chariot and slowly started to descend towards camp, which kept getting bigger and bigger. I saw the mess hall, the cabins, the rec center, and even little people running around the arena, sword fighting. _Home sweet home,_ I thought.

"And we're dropping," said Apollo. Before I could ask what he meant, he pulled a lever and I felt a tugging sensation in my gut, as if my bottom half was falling faster than my top half, like in cartoons. I looked out the window, but all I could see was a blur of sky, trees and grass. _Grass?_ I slammed on the brakes, and we immediately came to a halt, about a foot clear of the ground.

"Excellent reflexes, my man! Skillfully done. Don't worry, I probably would've stopped us if you hadn't done that within the next few seconds."

"Probably?" I asked, becoming less and less convinced of this god's sanity.

"You're a son of Hephaestus. You know how to work these machines." He had a point, but I still wasn't about to ride with him again anytime soon. Apollo turned the key in the ignition, and we stepped down and out of the sun chariot, slamming the doors behind us. We had crash-landed just outside the camp borders. Thalia's pine tree with the Golden Fleece was only about a couple meters away.

"So," said the sun god, "I'm going to take off. Say hi to my kids for me." I nodded gratefully. He got back into his Lamborghini and drove on solid ground for a couple of feet before taking off and rocketing into the sky. I smiled to myself and started walking towards the Big House.

I noticed two people running down Half-Blood Hill. I couldn't make them out at first, but as they got closer I was able to make them out.

"Hey, Percy!" I called, "Annabeth!" They didn't seem to hear me, so I tore after them, limping slightly but still going pretty fast for a recently hospitalized son of Hephaestus. "Perce!" He looked in my direction, confused. Then I saw his turquoise eyes widen. And his jaw drop. And his feet stop moving.

"Beckendorf?" he asked, not believing his eyes. Annabeth had noticed that Percy had stopped moving and had turned around. When she saw me, she blinked twenty times in rapid succession to make sure I wasn't a hallucination, then pinched herself before she said anything.

"You're… you're…"

"I'm alive."


	7. The One With The News

Percy and Annabeth looked like they couldn't believe what they were seeing. After a couple seconds of awkward standing and staring, Annabeth gave me a big hug.

"We thought you were dead! Where on earth were you?" she asked, angrily wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. I didn't have time to answer because Percy pulled me into an awkward guy hug, though it was noticeably more comfortable for both of us since he'd grown another three inches or so since I'd last seen him, shortening the gap between our heights. He didn't say anything, and seemed at a loss for words.

"Well, I, uh…" The words stuck in my throat, almost as if I had a mouthful of peanut butter. "It's a long story." My gaze flicked to Percy and I gave him what I thought would come out as a knowing look. He didn't seem to have any idea as to what I was trying to communicate, and just rose his eyebrows like _What?_

"You can tell us later," said Annabeth, "In the meantime we need to tell everyone you're alive so they c an bombard you with questions and hugs and kisses."

"That sounds great, but I want to talk to Silena first. There' something I need to tell her." Percy and Annabeth exchanged awkward glances, like they had some bad news for me; but then she waved away my request with a slightly queasy-looking smile on her face and grabbed me by the wrist.

"Come on, Metalhead."

The three of us ran up towards the rec center – well, they ran, I hobbled – and Percy grabbed the conch shell that was lying on the ping-pong table that was in as bad a shape as I'd ever seen it. Annabeth stuck her fingers in her ears, and I did the same. Good thing, too, because my eardrums nearly burst when Percy blew into the conch; imagine if I hadn't blocked my ears.

"In three, two, one…" Annabeth counted down. At "one", Clarisse burst in, electric spear in hand. Then Clarisse's siblings. Then most of the Hephaestus cabin, along with a short new kid whose hair had caught on fire. Then Travis Stoll, fighting with his brother over something. Then Katie Gardner, who managed to make Travis shut up just by looking at him. Then all the rest, including Mr. D and Chiron.

"What going on?" demanded Clarisse, "It better be good, I interrupted a duel for this."

"Not much of duel, was it, Clarisse?" asked Mark Robronski, her freakishly strong half-brother. "I would've kicked your…"

"QUIET!" yelled Percy. Everybody fell silent. Percy very rarely yelled, especially for people to shut up. "Everybody close your eyes." All the campers looked at each other curiously, but obeyed, except for the majority of the Ares and Athena kids. "Eyes closed." Once Clarisse had sighed exasperatedly and shut her eyes, Annabeth whispered,

"Get on the ping pong table."

"What?"

"Stand on the ping pong table." I pulled up a chair and climbed onto the table that seemed to be falling apart and really didn't look like it was going to be able to support my weight. But even if it fell in, I'd survived worse.

"Eyes open everyone!" When everyone had opened their eyes, a collective gasp filled the room. They were all staring at me as if I'd dropped from the sky, mouths gaping, eyes wide. I don't think I'd ever felt this conspicuous since I accidentally blew up my old school and was the only one holding a test tube… and even then, I hadn't stuck around for very long.

Nobody knew what to say. They were speechless. I scanned the room, searching for Silena.

"Beckendorf?" asked Connor Stoll as if he didn't quite believe his eyes. "You're… you're… dude!" He collapsed onto a box of new swords for the weaponry. I awkwardly slid off the table, shaking slightly. No sooner had my feet touched the ground, Travis Stoll pulled me into a hug. Then his brother. Then Clarisse and Chris Rodriguez. Eventually, all my friends, who had broken out into spontaneous laughter, were almost suffocating me.

"Where have you been?"

"How are you?"

"Why'd you have to scare us like that?"

"You seem like a nice guy. Who are you?"

Once everyone had let go and I'd recovered my breath, I continued to look around for Silena. Where was she? Maybe she was discussing politics with the nymphs; one of her favorite pastimes. But clearly this conch was for emergencies only, and she probably would have dropped everything and ran over, knowing her. So where was she? Not in the infirmary, hopefully.

"Where's Silena?" I asked Percy, loud enough that everyone could hear. "Is she OK?"

I could tell by the way Annabeth's face darkened, but the way Percy smiled uncomfortably at me, by the way Travis looked at his feet, by the way Clarisse bit her lip as if she, Clarisse La Rue, were about to cry, that something had happened to her. I knew, but I didn't want it to be true. It the thought of Silena in pain killed me more than my fake death had. But why weren't they telling me?

"Where is she?" I repeated.

And so Annabeth told me. With every word she said, I grew number and number until I was sure that if something exploded beneath me again, I wouldn't feel a thing. It couldn't be true. It was… impossible. It was the kind of thing that happened in those really bad, really cheesy movies that Silena made me watch with her. I had an inexplicable urge to laugh because it was so ridiculous… but was it? She was a demigod, after all. _Was._

"She was a hero," Annabeth finished softly.

Now I realized why there were so few campers that I recognized. There had been a full-blown war while I was gone. Many of them had died. And I hadn't even been there to say goodbye. I blinked away the stinging in my eyes.

"Did you kill Luke, at least?" I asked bitterly. "Did you kill Kronos?" I looked down at Annabeth, only to see her crying. With a jolt, I remember that she and Luke had been friends – perhaps even more. Way to be insensitive, Beckendorf. Way to stuff your overlarge feet into your even bigger mouth. "What about the spy? Who was he?"

"Well it doesn't matter now," said Travis Stoll after a while, "He… he's gone too." I nodded, still curious, but too sad to actually bother asking. I loved Silena. In fact, I still do. Where she is and how far apart we are is never going to change that. I wondered if Calypso had known; probably. And I was glad that the spy was gone too, whoever he was, because if I'd caught him I would have made him suffer.

"Good," I told them, "Because he murdered her. He murdered my girl."

I didn't even realize I was crying until felt a tear drip off my chin.

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN: Again, sorry for taking so long to update, but I didn't have the document over vacation. Hope you liked it and weren't too disappointed that I stuck with RR's original storyline; you know, with Silena dying and all. The part where Percy and Annabeth are running down the hill is at the end of _The Last Olympian_. I basically picked up right after that. Thanks for being patient! - SK_**


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